After missing the first exhibition game with a foot injury, Cam Ward was already a step behind his teammates entering the 2026-27 season. Michigan State looked like a well-oiled machine against Incarnate Word as Ward was still on the mend but then he entered the starting lineup against UConn and it didn’t go well.
While he didn’t play poorly, he clearly wasn’t himself, finishing 1-for-2 from the floor with four points, six rebounds, three fouls, and a turnover in 24 minutes.
Michigan State isn’t going to win games against top-five teams if its starting power forward is finishing with four points, six rebounds, and three fouls. That’s not the stat line of a national title-contending team’s starting four. Ward obviously isn’t going to put up Jaxon Kohler numbers right away, but averaging somewhere in the 8-10 point range with 6-7 rebounds to go with it is probably where he absolutely needs to be.
Also, he shouldn’t finish with two shot attempts. He needs to be aggressive in the post because he is so efficient with his back-down game.
Unfortunately, the sophomore forward struggled the following exhibition game against Marquette, attempting zero shots from the floor and finishing with three points on 3-of-6 free throws, four rebounds, a block, a foul, and three turnovers. He was a ghost on the floor and that’s not going to cut it when the games actually matter.
MSU coach Tom Izzo said Cam Ward's three-week layoff last month hurt his conditioning some and maybe confidence a little bit. Wants his sophomore big man "to be the best version of himself" after a slow exhibition season.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) October 29, 2026
Ward did come off the bench against Marquette as Coen Carr got the nod at the four and Jesse McCulloch was at the five, so maybe that hurt his confidence a bit, but he needs to shake off this obvious rust before Michigan State gets into the meat of its schedule.
Basically, he needs to be fully un-rusty in Monday’s season opener. It’s a big ask, but we’ve seen the second-year power forward put up All-Big Ten-type numbers against some good teams last year, including Arkansas. He’s fully capable of producing.
Cam Ward is Michigan State’s X-factor in 2026-27
If there’s one role player who truly needs to be at his best this season for Michigan State to have a chance at the national title in Detroit, it’s Ward.
Obviously everyone needs to be at their best, but if Ward is playing the best basketball of his career at the power forward spot, Michigan State is going to have everything it needs to compete for a title. It’ll have an elite point guard, two really good scoring options at the two, the most athletic player in the country at the three, an All-Big Ten caliber four, and a budding star in Ethan Taylor at the five. That’s a recipe for success.
We saw last season that when Ward is playing his best, Michigan State is usually winning.
When Ward scored in double figures last season, Michigan State was 3-0 with two wins against ranked teams and a third was an NCAA Tournament victory. When he scored at least eight points, Michigan State was 10-0. When he scored at least five, Michigan State was 17-1. Those are some insane numbers for a guy who averaged just over 15 minutes per game. He was that impactful.
It’s pretty clear that when he’s on his game, Michigan State is really tough to beat. Izzo got that version of him 18 times last year, but he’ll need that for a full season this time around.
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